Local Community Links
Churches Together in Clapham (CTiC)
There are many different Christian denominations, but all have the same basic calling - to worship God, to share the good news about Jesus Christ and to work for the good of all people. Churches Together in Clapham is part of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland which is the umbrella organisation helping to bring these denominations together under Christian unity.
Through CTiC, St Paul's has been involved in Robes since 2011, providing shelter and meals once a week for several months in our church hall. In 2019/20 Robes looked after 98 guests who would otherwise have slept rough at different venues with local volunteers providing food, shelter and support.
In the winter of 2021/22 St Paul’s supported the guests of the Robes Project on Monday evenings from 17 January until 28 March 2022, a total of 11 weeks. There are 18 guests and because of the current Covid-related difficulties of hosting them in individual churches and church halls, they are accommodated in a hostel in Canary Wharf.
The complexities of transporting food, hot or cold, in bulk or in individual containers (totalling at least 200 containers over the 11 week period) from Clapham to Canary Wharf (on a Monday evening in the rush hour!) were considered to be overwhelming, and consequently, with the approval of the Robes team, we invited people to donate to a central fund at St Paul’s. The money was transferred to the Robes office who purchased food vouchers for the guests, so that they could buy their own food and cook it in the hostel kitchens and eat it when it suited them. In addition we provided each guest with a toiletry gift bag.